This free training is for volunteers interested in gathering information to improve the physical habitats and wellbeing of the River Crane and Yeading Brook in West London using the MoRPh Rivers field survey method for Citizen Scientists.

Everyone attending will learn about why observing and capturing evidence of changing habitats is vital to understanding the health of river ecosystems,

The MoRPh river survey method and tools provide a user-friendly open research resource that can be used to:

  • build understanding of how rivers and streams physical features and natural processes provide vital functioning habitats to support diverse aquatic wildlife
  • help fill the gap in evidence for the physical condition of the River Crane and Yeading Brook in West London
  • learn lessons from the outcomes of river restoration projects all across London and other urban catchments
  • understand relationships between aquatic wildlife and the functional habitats they depend upon.

The special thing about this training is that it will be followed soon after by a pilot of our brand new Monitoring with MoRPh CS training course, where we will be:

  • taking trained MoRPh surveyors to a site where river restoration work has recently been carried out, so they can learn the theory and practice of designing a monitoring approach using MoRPh to track physical changes following restoration activities. 
  • building deeper understanding of how to use MoRPh for monitoring channel responses and support decision making for future local river stewardship activities; and most important, to establish monitoring at key sites of interest.
  • together with ZSL Citizen Crane project leads, we are aiming to link this training to some organised ‘morpho-blitz’ events where groups can come together and enjoy recording and exploring their findings together once or twice a year (depending upon the site and restoration-related activities or responses etc)

Our Autumn training programme will be located within the lower part of the River Crane catchment – but all with an interest in recording data in the Crane catchment will be welcome to attend! 

In the Spring we will repeat both events at a location higher up the catchment on the Yeading Brook, where we will focus on a different site, again with the objective of establishing ongoing monitoring and engagement stewardship of local river physical habitats.

You can freely explore all approved MoRPh CS data and find out more about MoRPh Citizen Science training, applications and learning materials here.

Booking is Essential – Spaces are Limited!

When? Thursday 19th October 2023

Who is this training for? Primarily volunteers based in the Crane catchment, and others with an interest in recording data along the River Crane and Yeading Brook.

You can sign up via: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/give-your-river-crane-a-physical-health-check-with-morph-citizen-science-tickets